Thursday, December 11, 2014

The International Racquetball Tour (IRT) ends the 2014 calendar year with the New Jersey Open in Warren, New Jersey this weekend. Unfortunately, IRT #1 Kane Waselenchuk isn't fit to play, although he hopes to be back for the New York City Pro-Am, which will be the first IRT event of 2015 (no California Open in 2015). Nevertheless, there will be several quality matches in New Jersey.

That quality should start in the qualifying rounds, as there are two matches with players who have represented their countries facing off for spots in the Round of 16. In one, Canadian Coby Iwaasa and Colombian Sebastian Franco will face off with the winner to play IRT #2 Rocky Carson, who is the top seed this weekend. In the other, Canadian Tim Landeryou and Ecuadoran Jose Daniel Ugalde play for a chance to meet IRT #4 Jose Rojas on Friday.

In an all-American bracket of the draw, Danny Lavely will likely take on Jake Bredenbeck tonight with the winner to face Jansen Allen in the 16s.

In Waselenchuk's absence, Carson has to be the favourite to add to his tournament title count. But it's an opportunity for all the other players, like Rojas, Alvaro Beltran, Daniel De La Rosa, and Ben Croft to step up an take a title. Of those players, only Jose Rojas has won more than once, and he's only done it twice. De La Rosa is still looking for his first IRT title.

The IRT Network will have action live from Warren from Friday morning. Also note that the final will be Saturday night at 7 PM EST. The semi-finals will be 11 AM and noon on Saturday.